The Dance Hall 13: When You Dance on the Ice and Your Feet Twizzle Twice, That's Amore

[jmtfti]

Hensen/Lickers have had some of the most interesting free dances each of the last four seasons. Glad they're starting to get more attention.

 

[Wyliefan]

I love this team. For a relatively new team to seniors they more than hold their own (even if the judges are sleeping on them). Their potential excites me.

Didn't H/L turn senior in 2021?

 

[marbri]

Didn't H/L turn senior in 2021?

Facts, schmacts I did say relatively new which I maintain is accurate given all the dinosaurs still competing so you should give me this one

 

[skateblessing]

So which of the four teams who skate before the flood will be the lucky one to make the cut?

(My gut is saying Wang/Liu, even though my mind tells me it should be whichever of the other three skates the best on the day.)

Judging how W/L were scored at 4CC, along with GP - I don´t think they will make it if the other skates clean and there isn´t some really weird scoring going on. I say this without knowing how the panel look. If it comes down to level, they better not. Didn´t they get a lv. 1 on the pattern step this week? Honestly I would have put my money on them being last, if scoring is fair-ish. Also it´s not going to help that they will skate nr. 1 or 2.

I don´t think the Brits has a much better chance then the Swedes to be honest, since they now will skate in the same warm up group. At Euros they were skating in a higher group and probably got some home scoring bonus. Last year at Worlds they were skating in like group 5 and the Swedes in group 2, so that surely helped them.
I think they might marginally get better PCS, but I think the Swedes might have the higher tech. Look at how the Brits were scored at GP - 66.81 and 62.82, missing on their levels. It´s probably going to be very close, and come down to possible mistakes or levels. They will be skating back to back - if they skate after the Swedes they will look slow, but if the judges have underscored the Swedes it might not matter. If the Swedes skate after the Brits, they will look fast, that might boost their score. The Swedes scoring 68.89 at Euros just one point behind their PB from Skate to Milano and Denis Ten makes me optimistic on their behalf because I halfway expected them to score 2-3 points lower since the scores often drop at Euros compared to Challengers. They are really doing well despite not having the world ranking to back them up. Their chemistry, speed and energy in their RD is hard to ignore. In all honesty, they did get scored pretty decent last year at Worlds compared to skaters in the same warm up group.

V/K just fell behind the Swedes at Euros, but they got lv. 3 on their twizzles there. If they get lv. 4 - they might be ahead of the Swedes if they get the IAM push? But skating nr. 1 og 2 might not help them.

It´s going to be thriller and the scores so close. Honestly it´s impossible to predict. Let the best skate make it to the free!

After watching 4CC, I wouldn´t rule out that someone in group 2 might mess up. H/C and L/Q better not make the same mistakes at Olympics or that might cost them the free. I think L/Q will be fine, i´m a bit more worried about H/C since it seems like they have been out for some time. Also L/LG needing to change their RD program only for Olympics because of music right issues it´s going to be interesting, if it wasn´t for that I wouldn´t have worried about them because they looked very strong this season, but doing a new RD without having gotten feedback from judges and maybe not had much time to prepare makes me think they will score lower.

 

[Karen-W]

Val/Kazimov aren't an IAM team - they're with Hurtado & Khaliavin's SK school in Madrid.

Wang/Liu's RD has been a problem for them all season & not scored as well as their FD, where they've been able to either maintain or improve their position. I'll be really surprised if they make the FD in Milano-Cortina.

Even if Les Gacs do score lower than they have been with their Prince RD, I'm hard-pressed to think they're going to score THAT much lower and not make the FD. Of course, we all saw what happened in Boston last year and in Montreal the year before, so it stands to reason there will be at least one higher-ranked team that doesn't make the FD.

 

[skateblessing]

Val/Kazimov aren't an IAM team - they're with Hurtado & Khaliavin's SK school in Madrid.

Wang/Liu's RD has been a problem for them all season & not scored as well as their FD, where they've been able to either maintain or improve their position. I'll be really surprised if they make the FD in Milano-Cortina.

Even if Les Gacs do score lower than they have been with their Prince RD, I'm hard-pressed to think they're going to score THAT much lower and not make the FD. Of course, we all saw what happened in Boston last year and in Montreal the year before, so it stands to reason there will be at least one higher-ranked team that doesn't make the FD.

Wooops of course - I know they are with Hurtado I assumed she was at IAM... Well then they might not help them, unless Hurtado has some influence (my impression is she might have a little at times, I mean after all V/K made the podium at Skate to Milano)